Senior Project Reflection
Senior project has been an important learning experience and personal growth for me. I learned how much skill, detail, patience, practice and confidence it takes to really step outside of your comfort zone and learn something new. Before senior project, I would have never guessed that I would carry a bag containing pretty colored yarn and crochet hooks in my car for when I have down time to fill; I never perceived myself as that type of woman. But in fact, through this process I have learned that it isn't strictly a woman's hobby, men can do it to; if you can work well with your hands than you can crochet.
If I had to do the project over again, I would. Even through all the struggles and frustrations, I had a lot of fun as well. I was able to combine a challenge with personal satisfaction. I would definitely recommend this project to future seniors if they are looking to gain fine motor skills, patience, and creativity. The one thing that I would change however, is documenting my progress through pictures more. I feel the progress would have more of an impact if I were to have a running picture record of each day I worked on it.
The skills I have learned through crocheting are skills that will follow me through out my life. Not only can I make warm accessories for winter, but when I have children and grandchildren I can crochet them blankets, beanies, and booties that will show my love to them. The underlining skills I learned will also help me in my future job as a pastry chef because it has taught me to be patient and to look for the details in the things I create.
Senior Project Process Paper
When senior project was first introduced to me, I was at a loss of ideas on what to do. I had to think of something that was challenging, realistic and something that would improve me somehow. The idea of crocheting came up when a friend of mine told me his adventure with learning how to crochet. He had asked his family friend Carmen to teach him how to crochet so he can make a scarf for his mother. I was impressed with his creation and thought it would be a great project and a skill to learn. It would teach me patience, how to pay attention to detail and it would also aid my creative side. Thus the adventure began.
The first step was to make sure Carmen would help me learn how to crochet and be my mentor. Fortunately when I introduced the project to her, she thought it was a wonderful idea and began to engage me even more by showing me some of the items she has created in the past. Before any crocheting took place however, we began brainstorming. I had to choose what I wanted to create, buy the yarn and the crochet hooks, which was an adventure in itself because I had to pick colors that matched, yarn that was easy to work with and depending on how big of an item you are creating, the price of the yarn could be an issue to consider.
I decided I wanted to make scarves for my friends. My first attempting at crocheting was very frustrating. I spent 3 or 4 hours doing one row of about 30 stitches! I kept loosing the yarn which forced me to redo the stitch. It was also really hard to hold on to the yarn because the beginning stitches are so small. Because I was so tense while I was crocheting it reflected in the stitches; the loops were tight which was bad because when I am began stitching the next row, it was hard for me to put my crochet hook through the holes. Carmen kept stopping me when I got frustrated so she could show me again how to hold it, did a couple of stitches so I could watch, undid the stitches and handed it back to me. I was forgetting a step in the stitch which made me confused and made the stitch look awkward. Once Carmen realized I was getting confused over that one step she changed it slightly so it would be easier for me. I did a couple stitches the new way, but by that time hours had past since I first sat down and I was ready for a break. The next day, while I was alone in my room, I picked it back up determined to complete at least one row. At first, I was scared that I had already forget what to do, but once I picked it up and started crocheting it felt like the struggles I had the day before had passed and I completed a row with only a couple of mistakes, but overall it looked good. Once I saw I could do it, I got really excited about what it would look like when I was done. I worked on it quite vigorously and made great progress as the weeks progressed. It took me about a month of working on it two days a week to complete it. I met with Carmen once a week to encourage my work and just to be there if something came up that I didn't understand.
Over the next two months I created two more scarves. The problems I was having while creating the first scarf, slowly started disappearing and consistency started to appear. By the third scarf I felt that I mastered the stitch and the scarf sequence so I knew it was time to crochet something different. This new item needed to big enough and challenging enough to be my final goal of my senior project. My inspiration came from my baby niece Elle. My next and final creation for my senior project was a baby blanket.
When I went to pick out the yarn for my blanket I wanted it to have baby colors, but not too overwhelming with one color. I found the perfect mix of colors in a yarn that was very soft and fuzzy, however when I brought it over to Carmen's house to start working on it she warned me that the yarn would be difficult to work with due to it's texture. She said that it might get tangled or it might confuse me while I am crocheting. Despite this warning I decided to go ahead and use the yarn anyway.
At first, the yarn was in fact more difficult than the last type of yarn that I used, but I altered the stitch I was using previously to better accommodate the yarn. After that, the blanket started to form itself. I worked on it every chance I got so it would be done in time for the presentation. Having the blanket consist of so many stitches, it was definitely stressful. However, all the stress was worth it, because the blanket turned out to be gorgeous and it means a lot to me that I made something for my baby niece to forever cherish and reached my final goal for my senior project.